Heart Attack and Atherosclerosis Prevention (cont.)

Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.

Dennis Lee, MD

Dr. Lee was born in Shanghai, China, and received his college and medical training in the United States. He is fluent in English and three Chinese dialects. He graduated with chemistry departmental honors from Harvey Mudd College. He was appointed president of AOA society at UCLA School of Medicine. He underwent internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

Ischemic stroke

An ischemic stroke is the sudden and permanent death of brain cells that occurs when the flow of blood to a part of the brain is blocked and oxygen cannot be delivered to the brain. Depending on the part of the brain that is affected, strokes can result in weakness or paralysis of the arms, legs, and/or facial muscles, loss of vision or speech, and difficulty walking.

Ischemic strokes most commonly occur when clots form in small arteries within the brain (known as thrombosis of the artery) that have been previously narrowed by atherosclerosis. The resulting strokes are called lacunar strokes because they look like small lakes. In some cases, blood clots can obstruct a larger artery going to the brain, such as the carotid artery in the neck, causing more extensive brain damage than lacunar strokes.

A second less common type of ischemic stroke occurs when a piece of a clot breaks loose, for example, from the carotid artery or heart, travels through the arteries, and lodges in an artery within the brain. This type of stroke is referred to as an embolic stroke and occurs commonly as a result of an irregular heart rhythm such as atrial fibrillation, that causes blood clots to form within the heart.

Hemorrhagic stroke

A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures, and blood leaks into the surrounding brain tissue. A hemorrhagic stroke, like an ischemic stroke, causes the death of tissue by depriving the brain of blood and oxygen. The accumulation of blood from the hemorrhage also can put pressure on adjacent parts of the brain and damage them as well.

A subarachnoid hemorrhage is a rupture of a blood vessel that is located between the outer surface of the brain and the inside of the skull. The blood vessel at the point of rupture often has been weakened by the development of an aneurysm (an abnormal ballooning of the wall of the blood vessel). Subarachnoid hemorrhages usually cause a sudden, severe headache and often are complicated by additional neurological problems, such as paralysis, coma, and even death.